A personal phone number for Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto was found saved in the telephone of a man accused in a massive $1-billion drug empire that allegedly flooded the eastern seaboard of the United States with marijuana and funnelled cocaine back into Canada, U.S. prosecutors say.

The alleged contact between Mr. Rizzuto and a man now facing charges in the United States is another link to emerge between the Quebec man and “the highest level of Mafia leadership,” prosecutors said Tuesday.

Jimmy Cournoyer, 33, of Laval, has been named as the central figure in the ring, charged with bringing high-potency marijuana from British Columbia to Quebec and smuggling it into the United States through the Mohawk First Nation’s Akwesasne reserve. Revenue was then used to buy cocaine in Mexico and smuggle it into Canada, prosecutors said.

Six men were charged in the high-profile case, five of them Canadians: Mr. Cournoyer, who is also known by the nicknames Superman and Cosmo; Mario Racine, who has the nickname Diego; Patrick Paisse, who is also known as Pegleg; Jose Alejandro Castillo Medina, also known as Primo; and Alessandro Taloni.

“Alessandro Taloni — Cournoyer’s manager for cocaine operations on the West Coast — was previously arrested in Canada for extorting a business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Tiscione told court Tuesday.

“At the time of his arrest, Canadian law enforcement seized a telephone from Taloni that contained contact numbers for a number of prominent members of the Montreal Mafia – including Vito Rizzuto, the boss of the Rizzuto crime family, alternatively referred to as ‘The Sixth Family.’

“Members of the Cournoyer enterprise had direct contact with the highest levels of Mafia leadership.

“Multiple witnesses will testify that Cournoyer was backed by the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia (specifically, the Rizzuto Crime Family) — two of the most violent organized crime groups in Canada,” Mr. Tiscione wrote in a document submitted in court.

The one U.S. citizen arrested in the case, John Venizelos, also known as Big Man, is an alleged associate of the Bonanno crime family, one of the notorious Five Families of the New York Mafia.

It was at a hearing into the government’s request to have him imprisoned pending trial that the further connection to Mr. Rizzuto emerged.

“The Rizzutos have strong historic ties to New York’s Bonanno crime family — the same crime family of which Venizelos is an associate. Indeed, Vito Rizzuto was released only a few months ago from a U.S. prison, where he was serving a sentence for his involvement in a triple-murder committed at the direction of the Bonanno family ruling panel,” Mr. Tiscione told court.

Court heard that Mr. Venizelos had threatened a man he suspected of cooperating with authorities by saying that Mr. Cournoyer had set aside $2-million to finance the elimination of anyone who ratted on him. Mr. Cournoyer’s lawyer, Gerald McMahon, denied the allegation.

Defence lawyers contend that it is impossible for the government to be sure of the context and authenticity of the message.

A judge disagreed and order Mr. Venizelos incarcerated pending trial.

The men face charges of conspiracy to export cocaine from the U.S. to Canada and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine as well as money laundering.

Mr. Racine and Mr. Paisse were arrested in Canada and are fighting extradition to the United States. The others are in U.S custody.

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